Friday, February 28, 2014

The charter flight that carried Team Japan from Sochi arrived at 9:22 in the morning of February 25 at Narita Airport.5 medal winners, along with President Seiko Hashimoto, were at Tokyo's Takanawa Prince Hotel for a press conference in the afternoon.Yuzuru Hanyu's (19) comment: "I think I was able to deliver something to the people who watched us perform. I am truly honored that I was able to come back home attaining the best possible result, but I also have some issues to settle. I need to become a strong athlete who will be able to carry the burden of being the Olympic Champion. I want to donate the prize money that I won here to those who have been affected by the disaster, as well as for building more skating rinks".

All-girl 4-piece band SCANDAL's vocalist HARUNA (25) just made her stage play debut. She is currently in the play Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Dai 4-shou kouhen Gekitotsu (runs until March 2). She ventured into the world of acting with the aspirations of improving her way of expressing herself. She also mentioned that she saw the first showing of this stage play series 11 years ago and has been a fan ever since. She plays the role of a boy who attends the Ginga Teikoku Younen Gakko, and she says: "I'm playing the role of the opposite sex for my very first stage play, so it was trial and error for me at the beginning of our rehearsals. I have been able to experience a different kind of tension and nervousness on stage here compared to when I have concerts with the band, but I'm enjoying this experience.".Source: http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2014/02/24/kiji/K20140224007652780.html

Ryoko Hirosue (33) was caught staying over at Takeru Sato's (24) apartment. One week ago, on February 21 at 8:30pm, while there was still snow on the ground following the record snowfall, Ryoko Hirosue stepped out of her own apartment within the city. She was wearing 12cm high heels and sexy fishnet tights. She was also holding a huge paper bag in her right hand, which was probably a late Valentine's Day present from her.

Hirosue got in a taxi and got off 15 minutes later at a high class apartment. She pressed on the doorbell, and then went into the building. The room Hirosue went into was Takeru Sato's.Nine hours later at 5:20 in the morning, a taxi was parked in front of the building. 10 minutes later, Sato's agency car arrived and parked behind the taxi. And then after 15 minutes, Sato hurriedly entered the agency car and headed off to work.A few moments later, Hirosue stepped out from the back entrance after confirming that Sato's car has left and boarded the taxi that waited for about 20 minutes.Hirosue's husband Candle JUNE (40) was not in Tokyo at this time, as he went to Fukushima and Niigata to help with the disaster-stricken areas. What is the reason why the mouse went out to play "forbiddenly" while the cat was away?

"Ryoko-chan is genuinely in-love with June-san. But they rarely get to spend time together, and she complained to her friends that she was feeling 'lonely'... She also started thinking lately that her husband must have someone in the disaster-stricken areas, and that's why he's rarely home..." -(Hirosue's acquaintance)Sato and Hirosue met each other 4 years ago in 2010 when they worked together in NHK's Taiga drama Ryomaden."They didn't have a lot of scenes together so there really was not much involvement between the two at that time, but I do remember seeing Sato-san and Hirosue-san being familiar with each other during the after-party. Even after the show ended, the members who became close at that time would sometimes gather again for drinks, and that's where they rekindled their friendship."Sato's agency comments: "She's a senpai whom he respects as they worked together in a drama before".Source：http://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20140227_243415.html

Update on this story:Hirosue however denied the rumors and said, "This report is groundless".

Seiyuu and singer Aya Hirano released the album vivid last February 19, her first album in 4 years and 3 months. To commemorate this, an event was held on the 22nd and the 23rd where the fans would listen to the album at the same time and tweet their comments. Hirano used Twitter again for these 2 days only.Hirano rose in popularity thanks to the anime Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, but lost a lot of fans after her change in image from her black hair to brown hair, and due to her scandal. Hirano used to be very busy with anime, musicals, movies, variety shows, and radio programs, but her single "Promise" which was released in October last year only sold 1,471 copies in its first week, which clearly depicted her drop in popularity. Her album vivid debuted at #16 on the daily Oricon charts, and there seems to be no signs of her popularity recovering to the way it was. According to a music industry insider: "The quality of her voice is beautiful, and she can express herself in a lot of different ways. She explored a lot of different musical genres in her album vivid, such as ballads, rock, and even bossa nova, and you can tell her intent that she wants the listeners to have an enjoyable experience. Fans of the 'seiyuu' Aya Hirano might get alienated by this venture, but maybe she'll eventually get some recognition if she keeps on doing this?"."One of the reasons of her decline in popularity was how she decided to pursue a different path, which was seen by some fans as an act of betrayal. But there are numerous other singers who rose again in popularity after an image change, such as Chihiro Onitsuka and Mika Nakashima. When Hirano re-colored her hair dark again in autumn last year, people have been saying that 'She's back', and 'She really is cute'. Even if her album won't do good in the sales, we might see her gradually gain her popularity back."Hirano has been in the business since she was a child, and can be called a veteran within the business. Having experienced the fall from being a top idol and seiyuu, will she once again be able come back up and establish her position as "the artist Hirano"?

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Mao Asada: "I just wanted my smile to reach out to everyone watching. I thought of showing everyone how wonderful a smile can be, even when you feel disheartened. Both the Vancouver and Sochi Olympics were the best."

Jenson Button will be marrying Jennifer Michibata as team McLaren broke the news on Twitter on the 21st.

Huge congrats to @JensonButton and @jessybondgirl on their engagement! #attaboy pic.twitter.com/hQRCJ1ieMO— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 21, 2014

The couple have been dating since 2009. They reportedly split up in 2010 but reconciled soon after. She has been hugely acknowledged as Button's girlfriend, as she's been spotted numerous times at the pit during major competitions. Button's father passed away this January.

Masami Nagasawa (26) and Yusuke Iseya (37) have gone their separate ways just recently, according to a common friend who responded to Sports Hochi's interview. The couple held discussions for many months and finally decided to put an end to their relationship of one and a half years. A sector of the media reported that they were about to get married soon, but that was actually false.They started seeing each other after working together in a summer drama back in 2012. Iseya is 11 years older than Nagasawa, and has a lot of experience in acting, directing, and running a business. It is thought that Nagasawa considers him as something like a dependable older brother. Their relationship was made public around March of last year, and the couple did not release any comments but were reportedly doing really well. They started realizing that they were heading towards different paths once they became busier with their work a few months later, which led to them agreeing mutually to end their relationship.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (21) replied to someone who has been causing disturbance on her Twitter account. A supposed Johnny's fan has kept on telling her to, "Keep your hands off them!" (The one she replied to reads, "Are you making advances to Kis-my-Ft2 now? Keep your hands off Arashi, Kanjani8, Kis-my-Ft2, and Yuya Tegoshi!"), to which she replied, "Eh, I've never done such a thing...", and explained that she just greets the other talents when she sees them.Kyary reads her fans' replies but says that there's one person who keeps on posting the exact same comment over and over. She normally ignores such comments or blocks the horrible ones, but there was one who kept on making new accounts no matter how many times she has tried to block the user, and so she says, "I replied for the first time and said 'Hello there'.".

Actor Satoshi Tsumabuki (33) will be starring in the movie based on the "legendary baseball team". Vancouver no Asahi(director Yuya Ishii), slated for a December release, is about the next generation of Japanese immigrants in Canada who fought against racism and poverty through baseball in order to inspire and give strength to their fellow immigrants. Joining Tsumabuki are other baseball enthusiasts in the industry such as KAT-TUN's Kazuya Kamenashi (27) and Yusuke Kamiji (34).The story is based on the actual Japanese-Canadian baseball team "Vancouver Asahi" which existed before the war. They defeated Canadian teams one after another and became a glimmer of hope for the Japanese settlement, and eventually won the favor of the white society. Tsumabuki plays the role of a Japanese nisei (2nd generation Japanese-Canadian) named Reggie Kasahara, the shortstop of the team who works in a lumbermill. This movie will not be a mere baseball movie but will mostly focus on the drama aspects of the story. The producers' reason for casting Tsumabuki was that they "wanted an actor whom people feel a sense of closeness to, and can easily empathize with". He's the only player in team Asahi who has never played baseball, but he trained hard for the role as the staff said "He was good enough to perform a sidethrow during his first training session."The rest of the team is made up of talents who have been involved with baseball in one way or another. Former little-league player Kamenashi will be playing the role of the ace pitcher Roy Einishi, while Kamiji who used to be the catcher of the New York Mets' pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in high school will be portraying Tom Miyake, the team's catcher. 2nd baseman Kei Kitamoto will be played by Ryo Katsuji (27) and 3rd baseman Frank Nojima by Sousuke Ikematsu, both experienced in baseball as well.

Monday, February 24, 2014

The Slopestyle Snowboard event has been newly added to the Winter Olympics this year, as 17-year-old snowboarder Yuki Kadono finished 8th. "I have no regrets. I've given it my all."

These athletes actually listen to music using their earphones as they make their runs in the actual event. Kadono was in fact listening to Momoiro Clover Z songs for the prelims and the first round of the finals.

Kadono has previously delared that he's a MomoClo fan. Another famous "mononofu", or MomoClo fan, in the world of sports is Masahiro Tanaka who's now taking his first step in his major league career with the New York Yankees. Tanaka used MomoClo's song "Hashire!" as his entrance song last season, and won 24 games without recording a single loss in the regular season. He was even invited as a guest judge on NHK's Kouhaku Uta Gassen last year.

There's also female figure skater Fumie Suguri, who was even invited over to MomoClo's Christmas concert as a guest performer. She wasn't able to participate in the Sochi Olympics, but she comments on Twitter: "MomoClo saved me. I now have dreams and aspirations. I am grateful for this encounter.".

There must be something in common among the athletes and MomoClo who are always thinking positively and give their all towards their huge goal.

There had been no news about Fuji TV's April Monday-9 drama for quite a while, but there's now finally some inside information available. According to some, it was going to be the 2nd season of Takuya Kimura's HERO, while some said that a woman will be playing the lead. The latter seems to be the likely case.According to a source from an advertising firm: "As Fuji's new president Chihiro Kameyama's reign officially kicks in, they promised that they will be casting no one but megastars of 'homerun caliber' as the lead of their Monday-9 dramas." "Aside from Kimura's HERO, Shun Oguri's Rich Man, Poor Woman Season 2 was also considered. However, HERO has been moved to July due to Kimura's schedule, and Rich Man wasn't possible since Satomi Ishihara had been cast in this season's Shitsuren Chocolatier."As they went back to the drawing board, they came up with a list of potential stars for the time slot which included Arashi's Satoshi Ohno and Eri Fukatsu, among others. The actress who had the （仮） mark (meaning 'tentative') removed next to her name is apparently Machiko Ono."They're not going for a sequel but an original story. Ono's recent work with Fuji includes the recently concluded Saikou no Rikon SP. This has a relatively good reputation within the industry, but the ratings weren't exceptionally high. Some staff were expressing their disappointment of not having someone of KimuTaku's caliber parade their Monday-9 brand at the beginning of the new fiscal year (Japan's fiscal year is from April 1 ~ March 31 of the following year), and that Ono is not 'Monday-9 material'." - (same source as above)Ono may not have the name value, but that is also why good things can be expected of her. "Her main field has always been in movies, and she's been winning a lot of awards, like the Élan d'or for her role in the 2012 morning drama Carnation on NHK. Ono has had an illicit romance scandal before with Hosshan, but not flinching despite such a damaging scandal is also proof that she's got what it takes. Here's to hoping that she can produce an out of the park, come-from behind homerun for Fuji." - (same source)

Sunday, February 23, 2014

原作者:許斐剛のTwitter @konomi_takeshi こんばんわ♪たぶん漫画家の許斐です！ 先程約束していた『新テニスの王子様』の キャラへ届いた沢山の沢山のバレンタインチョコ達…まだまだほんの一部です＊。゜+．ヾ(*´∀｀)ﾉ゛.+゜＊:・°☆ 本当に皆ありがとう!!! http://twitter.com/konomi_takeshi/status/436055038503301120/photo/1Good evening♪ Mangaka Konomi here, I think!As promised, here are the Valentine chocolates that we received for the Prince of Tennis characters... This is really just a small portion of it ＊。゜+．ヾ(*´∀｀)ﾉ゛.+゜＊:・°☆ Everyone, thank you so much!!!http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/kinisoku/imgs/c/9/c941c352-s.jpg